In-Class Assignment: Self-Reliance/Nature

March 26, 2024

Answer in complete sentences. Cite evidence!! Points will be deducted if
there is less than 2 sentences

In closing (Respond) 🅶
- What elements do you think distinguish “good” poetry from “bad”?
- (imagery? Word choice? Themes? )
I think that good poetry should be easier to understand and has themes people
can understand. Bad poetry is poetry that is confusing and has themes that aren’t
clear.

Add the three tenets of Transcendentalism to your unit 2 notes, listed under ‘Text analysis’ on
page 369 (link)

Quickwrite 40 word minimum

Create your own personal motto. To get started, consider the traits or resources that helped you
solve a difficult problem, or the best advice you have ever given a friend. Use your answers to
develop a personal motto that is short and to the point.

My own personal motto is “Don’t give up on a challenge.” This is my motto because sometimes I
want to give up when something is challenging, but the reward in the end can be worth it. For
example, when I had my surgery to fix my chest wall, I faced many challenges and had to
overcome them. Quitting was not an option.

Text Selections: Self Reliance, Nature (page 370) link

Comprehension Questions

1. Recall According to “Self-Reliance,” what is the only law that Emerson can
hold sacred?
The only law that Emerson can hold sacred is “Trust thy self” and the law of his own nature.

2. Summarize What are three ways the woods can transform a man, according
to Emerson in Nature?
The three ways the woods can transform a man are by making someone have joy, making
someone feel young/child-like, and connecting to something spiritual.

3. Clarify In Nature, Emerson discusses the “delight” the natural world often
inspires. What does Emerson think this power to delight comes from?
Emerson thinks that the power to “delight” comes from some Universal Being and from the
“occult connection between man and the vegetable.”

Text Analysis
4. Draw Conclusions Reread lines 37–48 of “Self-Reliance.” What is Emerson
speaking of when he mentions consistency, and why does he berate it as
“the hobgoblin of little minds”? Consider the following examples of
Emerson’s statements as you formulate your response:
• “Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this. . . .”
• “. . . The sour faces of the multitude . . . have no deep cause, but are put
on and off as the wind blows. . . .”

He is saying that consistency is not ever changing ideas. He says that people’s ideas of certain
things as good or bad can be changed depending on who's around. He says there are no firm
rules about what is good or bad and people who don’t change have “little minds.”

Element of Transcendentalism Example from the text

A theory that transcendent forms of truth exist
beyond reason and experience; every
individual is capable of discovering this truth
on his or her own, through intuition
“ Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that
iron string. Accept the place the divine
providence has found for you, the society of
your contemporaries, the connection of
events.” Line 5-7
(Self-Reliance)

People are inherently good and should follow
their own beliefs, however controversial they
may be
“Whoso would be a man must be a
nonconformist” and “but if I am the Devil’s
child, I will live then from the Devil.”
Line 12-13 and Line 20-21
(Self-Reliance)

A belief that humankind, nature, and god are
all interconnected
“Standing on the bare ground,- my head
bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into
infinite space,- all mean egotism vanishes. I
become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing;
I see all; the currents of the Universal Being
circulate through me; I am a part or particle of
God.” Line 11-14
(Nature)

7. Critical Thinking Writer Henry James argued that Emerson had no concept of the evil that
exists in the world. In James’s words, it was “a side of life as to which Emerson’s eyes were
thickly bandaged…He had no great sense of wrong…no sense of the dark, the foul, the base.”
In your opinion, is this a valid criticism of Emerson? Citing evidence, explain why or why not.
Yes, I agree with Henry James that Emerson had no concept of evil. He says, “If I am the
Devil’s child, I will live then from the Devil”. “No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.”
He is saying that if you want to be evil and commit mass murder, then go ahead and do it. For
example, Hitler’s nature was from the Devil, but what he did was not good and he should not
lived according to his nature. There has to be a standard of right and wrong or people could do
what they wanted to do even if it hurts other people.